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Old 8th August 2017, 11:55   #16
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re: Lexus ES300h Ownership Review | EDIT: Bagheera celebrates the 6th birthday @ 62,000 km

Congrats on your new ES300h. I like that center dashboard controls. Wood finish and controls reminds me of old Sony cassette player we had in our ancestral home.

Please fix that misaligned front number plate!
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Old 8th August 2017, 11:58   #17
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re: Lexus ES300h Ownership Review | EDIT: Bagheera celebrates the 6th birthday @ 62,000 km

Fantastic Review V.Narayan!

Thanks for the effort and time spent on this wonderfully detailed review!

Though I don't much like the exterior styling of Lexus (especially the front), The interiors are beautiful. Kudos to your wife too, for selecting the Steel Gray Color and the interior combination of Beige and Matte Bamboo wood finish . Looks sweet and elegant !

Congratulations and have a happy & fuss free ownership
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Old 8th August 2017, 12:01   #18
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re: Lexus ES300h Ownership Review | EDIT: Bagheera celebrates the 6th birthday @ 62,000 km

A review that I've been waiting for and it's been a pleasure reading it.

Your unique insights and reasons to buy this car over the German Big 3 made for very interesting reading! Not everybody wants a sprinter and I too am beginning to place passenger comfort closer or even higher than just sheer driving thrills.

As for the car itself, well, what more can I say than what has already been said. A great machine, very refined and knowing Toyota they will look after it (and you the customer) very well indeed.

This thread will be watched closely by me.

Thanks for sharing V Narayan and here's wishing you and your family many many safe & happy journeys in this car.
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Old 8th August 2017, 12:06   #19
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re: Lexus ES300h Ownership Review | EDIT: Bagheera celebrates the 6th birthday @ 62,000 km

Ah, had been eagerly waiting for the detailed review. Thank you for sharing Sir. Lovely report.

Felt good to read about the attention and focus the whole team provided all through the purchase process. Since that was one of your key criteria's right from start, glad to see it was as per your expectations.

Wish you many miles of happiness.

Last edited by Rajeevraj : 8th August 2017 at 12:09.
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Old 8th August 2017, 12:45   #20
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re: Lexus ES300h Ownership Review | EDIT: Bagheera celebrates the 6th birthday @ 62,000 km

Congratulation Sir on owning a fantastic machine, that will surely live by its name.
Enjoy the car and here's wishing here's wishing you and your family many many safe & happy memories with this car.
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Old 8th August 2017, 13:58   #21
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re: Lexus ES300h Ownership Review | EDIT: Bagheera celebrates the 6th birthday @ 62,000 km

Easily one of the best initial reviews I've seen on T-bhp. Thanks for taking the effort, V.Narayan

I completely condone your inclination towards a hybrid vehicle and vehicles like the ES300h and S90 in general. There's something inexplicable about a calm, sedate and insulated daily driver that sports saloons can't emulate. Plus, the sense of "doing your part" towards preserving the environment (albeit very little) is always a good feeling.

I have a question though; While I haven't checked out an ES300h in person yet, I'm surprised you feel the S90's interior (the wood and leather) is slightly inferior to that of the Lexus. Could you please elaborate on why exactly you feel so? For me personally, the S90 has surpassed every other car I've ever been inside in terms of interior quality and design. Being a sucker for glorious interiors, I'd love to hear more.

PS - THANK YOU for getting rid of that ugly number plate they slapped on the car during delivery!

PPS - I realize now that it was a temporary number. Nothing to see here! move on.

Last edited by DeKay : 8th August 2017 at 14:04. Reason: PPS
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Old 8th August 2017, 13:58   #22
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re: Lexus ES300h Ownership Review | EDIT: Bagheera celebrates the 6th birthday @ 62,000 km

Congratulations on your new Lexus! Although most petrol heads will baulk at the pricing of the car the way you presented your purchase decision made so much sense. The car needs to fit your requirements and not the other way round.

Also, I have to say what you mentioned about Audi blasting SMS and apathy of Merc dealers is spot on. In-fact I believe this is the most important part of owning a luxury product is the service you get. I recently wrote an email to the Volvo India CEO about them missing 2 sales in last few months (we bought a 5er and Cooper S in lieu of S90/S60 Polestar) because the company or dealer could never get us the test drive cars in time! I did not get any reply for the same and just disheartening that brands we believe in so much don't believe in us.

It's great to see the kind of service Lexus has and hope in the future their pricing gets better too. Wish you many safe miles with your new ride.

P.S. Is that Jaypee Greens?
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Old 8th August 2017, 13:59   #23
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re: Lexus ES300h Ownership Review | EDIT: Bagheera celebrates the 6th birthday @ 62,000 km

Excellent review sir of an excellent car.
Your purchase goes on to prove how important a sales team is even if they have an amazing car on hand. I'm a sucker for such etiquettes.

Wish you many happy miles on the big L.
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Old 8th August 2017, 15:03   #24
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re: Lexus ES300h Ownership Review | EDIT: Bagheera celebrates the 6th birthday @ 62,000 km

Wonderful, wonderful review. Like the awesome car. Congratulations. Wish you lots and lots of miles in absolute comfort.
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Old 8th August 2017, 17:01   #25
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re: Lexus ES300h Ownership Review | EDIT: Bagheera celebrates the 6th birthday @ 62,000 km

Great review of a fantastic vehicle - since I get driven on Lexus almost daily, I can safely say its a great choice for quiet luxury with safety. And hybrids will indeed be the way to go in the medium-long term. And it won't come from coal burning plants but likely much cheaper solar (even at today's prices, its already at grid parity in many countries).
Enjoy the many many miles and years ahead !
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Old 8th August 2017, 17:17   #26
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re: Lexus ES300h Ownership Review | EDIT: Bagheera celebrates the 6th birthday @ 62,000 km

Great review of a very interesting car. Can empathise with how you considered the environmental impact while buying this car - agree fully that Hybrids make immense sense, especially in our stop and go conditions. I still feel guilty that I went over to the dark side by buying a polluting diesel - even if as on date, that seems like the sensible thing to do economically.

Where I have an issue with the ES is on pricing - it's much too expensive for what it offers. The ES sells for almost USD 10000 less than the Mercedes E in the USA (not apples to apples as engines are different) and it takes someone very determined to buy Lexus to pay that much more for the car.

Have a great time with the car
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Old 8th August 2017, 17:59   #27
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re: Lexus ES300h Ownership Review | EDIT: Bagheera celebrates the 6th birthday @ 62,000 km

Great Review!! and what a great car! It oozes class! Congratulations!

However it is a little overpriced compared to its competition! On the other hand, the proactivness and diligence of the Lexus team is quite impressive considering that it was one of the reasons why you went for the car!

Truly shows how important of a role the sales team plays, especially for a newly introduced luxury brand trying to get traction in a market where the competitors are relatively well established.

I dont know about India, but I have heard quite a few incidents about the snobish behaviour BMW sales team tend to have in North America.
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Old 8th August 2017, 19:22   #28
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re: Lexus ES300h Ownership Review | EDIT: Bagheera celebrates the 6th birthday @ 62,000 km

Quote:
Originally Posted by honeybee View Post
Some questions:
1. Why are the vents for ventilating the battery pack inside the passenger cabin? With today's battery technology it should be rare if any battery fumes would enter the passenger compartment, but placing them on the outer side of the door sill would have provided better ventilation. Like in the Nano.
I don't know. It is an air intake to cool the hybrid battery pack.
Quote:
2. ORVM controls on the dash, to the right of the steering: I think the natural position for these controls is on the driver door, towards the front of the armrest. Do you think Toyota/Lexus should swap these with the memory seat buttons?
The ORVM controls are not ergonomically well placed. Agree with your view.
Quote:
3. Sun/moon roof: one potential use could be to peep ahead in a traffic jam to get a better idea what's going on. But that's probably not what a Lexus passenger would want to do.
You will never catch a square like me doing that. But my better half is one bohemian free electron and has actually done things like this in earlier cars
Quote:
Originally Posted by AYP View Post
I have a query though. How do you control the AC temperature at the rear? Can it be done only through the rear armrest? Or can it be controlled by the driver as well?
Rear AC temperature can be varied only through the rear controls on the hand rest.
Quote:
Originally Posted by M00M View Post
Do keep updating it from time to time.
Yes I will be updating at each 10k kms event.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR View Post
Prices have increased post GST, as was the case with all hybrids. The ex-showroom price increase was around 4.2 lakhs.
Thank you. Sorry my error.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nair.V8 View Post
Heartiest congratulations V.Narayan, You have a truly unique taste in cars.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference...Robert Frost
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nohonking View Post
Lovely car, lovely brand, lovely place and an equally lovely write-up V.Narayan! Rating it a full 5 star!
I used your comprehensive article on the Jazz to make sure I was not forgetting to cover something.
Quote:
With such brilliantly done reviews, it also gives us a chance to get into the nitty-gritties of such exclusive beauties which otherwise will always stay out of reach for someone as me.
With time every thing changes. You are a young man today. Your buying power could be very different in 20 years. Go for it.
Quote:
PS: The most interesting thing, handbrake is down in feet(extreme left). Is it still referred as handbrake? or may be just "parking brake".
I was confused what to call it so defaulted to the old world phrase. Parking Brake sounds more appropriate.

Quote:
Originally Posted by R2D2 View Post
A review that I've been waiting for and it's been a pleasure reading it. Your unique insights and reasons to buy this car over the German Big 3 made for very interesting reading!This thread will be watched closely by me.
Thank you R2D2 your compliments mean a lot. Why spend 7 million rupees and deal with indifference on a good day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rajeevraj View Post
Ah, had been eagerly waiting for the detailed review. Thank you for sharing Sir. Lovely report.
Thank you Rajeevraj. The feeling is mutual. I eagerly look forward to reading your posts.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeKay View Post
Easily one of the best initial reviews I've seen on T-bhp. Thanks for taking the effort, V.Narayan
I have a question though; While I haven't checked out an ES300h in person yet, I'm surprised you feel the S90's interior (the wood and leather) is slightly inferior to that of the Lexus. Could you please elaborate on why exactly you feel so? For me personally, the S90 has surpassed every other car I've ever been inside in terms of interior quality and design. Being a sucker for glorious interiors, I'd love to hear more.
Good question and a valid one. First the S.90 has good interiors. The seat leather is like my Volvo XC60 and the woodwork is better. The comparison with the Lexus is only relative. Due to my profession I understand a bit about VIP interiors and could see the details in the ES300h in leather quality, stitching, polish etc that led me to conclude it was superior. If the S.90 had been available in a hybrid or plug-in version it may have trumped over the Lexus.
Quote:
Originally Posted by quickdraw View Post
Congratulations on your new Lexus! Although most petrol heads will baulk at the pricing of the car the way you presented your purchase decision made so much sense. The car needs to fit your requirements and not the other way round.
Well said. Old jungle saying..."Never fall prey to buying a car to impress your circle or because you believe it will get you into a circle."
Quote:
Also, I have to say what you mentioned about Audi blasting SMS and apathy of Merc dealers is spot on. In-fact I believe this is the most important part of owning a luxury product is the service you get. I recently wrote an email to the Volvo India CEO about them missing 2 sales in last few months (we bought a 5er and Cooper S in lieu of S90/S60 Polestar) because the company or dealer could never get us the test drive cars in time! I did not get any reply for the same and just disheartening that brands we believe in so much don't believe in us.
This is very sad that Tom Bonsdroff of all the people did not reply. A loss of 2 sales and one less appreciative customer is not something to sneeze at. Audi sends every one SMS's including my driver!
Quote:
P.S. Is that Jaypee Greens?
The photos were taken inside my apartment complex.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hayek View Post
... and it takes someone very determined to buy Lexus to pay that much more for the car.
Hayek, you bet!! I thought endlessly about the price.
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Old 8th August 2017, 20:57   #29
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re: Lexus ES300h Ownership Review | EDIT: Bagheera celebrates the 6th birthday @ 62,000 km

Quote:
Originally Posted by V.Narayan View Post

This is very sad that Tom Bonsdroff of all the people did not reply. A loss of 2 sales and one less appreciative customer is not something to sneeze at. Audi sends every one SMS's including my driver!
Yep, here is the email that I sent him. Kinda broke my heart a little bit because I've always adored the brand. They are in no position to dilly dally around. On both occasions, I waited 4-6 weeks without a test drive or any revert from the dealer before deciding against the brand. If they can't be bothered to chase a lead I can only imagine how it would be like when I want to get the car serviced.

Lexus ES300h Ownership Review | EDIT: Bagheera celebrates the 6th birthday @ 62,000 km-screen-shot-20170808-8.51.09-pm.png
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Old 8th August 2017, 21:07   #30
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re: Lexus ES300h Ownership Review | EDIT: Bagheera celebrates the 6th birthday @ 62,000 km

Congratulations V. Narayan on your Lexus . Thank you for sharing this amazing review of a great car. A review I have been waiting since a long long time and it was completely worth it.

Wish you many happy and safe mile
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